SAIL’s Junior Regatta Race Management Guidelines

The Sailing Association of Intermountain Lakes is developing guidelines for informal & “developmental" junior regattas. They are intended for the unique situation of junior racing in the Rocky Mountain region. They are not intended for “high-profile" events distinguished from adult events only by the ages of the competitors.

To draw an analogy with youth baseball, the guidelines are intended for an event about halfway between sandlot ball and a Little League Championship Series.

Objectives:

Provide a fun sailing event for the participants and their families. Introduce competitive sailing. Encourage further participation in the sport. Help competitors improve their sailing skills.

Competitors:

Expect competitors to range in age from 8 to 18 and in sailing experience from a few weeks to five years. They will range in size from 3½’ to over 6’ feet tall and in weight from 80 pounds to 200 or more.

Sailing will not be the competitors’ only – or even – major interest. It has to compete with soccer, biking, skateboarding, mountain climbing, video games, etc. The competitor may well be the only sailor in his/her circle of family and friends. Many will have a short attention span and become discouraged easily.

Environment:

The Rocky Mountain region differs from others in its absence of club facilities and social networks around the facilities. Your entrants are not accustomed to a yacht-club lifestyle nor sailing traditions.

Be alert to threatening weather. Your day may be cut short by an afternoon thunderstorm. Do not keep boats on the water if lightning is within five miles. Call off racing & go into rescue mode if wind gets above 15 knots. Many competitors are insufficiently skilled to handle it with safety.

Boats:

Expect a hodge-podge of old, borrowed boats in various stages of falling apart to be entered. The only likely one-design fleet will be Vanguard prams from Community Sailing.

The Event: Duration & Format

The event should be specifically devoted to junior sailing & youth sailors; do not attempt to combine it with an adult event. Requirements to satisfy each group are very different. We do not recommend that junior sailors sail against adults. The event may include one or more separate fleets of mixed junior/adult crews.

The competitors and their families will expect the event to take no more than one day. They will not come back on a second day.

Entry Fees:

Should be kept low. A fee of $5 per sailor has worked well to help defray event costs and encourage participation.

Lunch:

Providing for a lunch time is essential and providing a group lunch is an excellent occasion to promote camaraderie among the sailors.

Race documents: Notice of Regatta & Sailing Instructions

Should be “kid-friendly", but must comply with RRS requirements. Use short simple words & sentences. Avoid complicated issues, such as “poison lines". Modify as few RRS rules as possible.

Safety:

Safety is a primary objective. Provide support boats & emphasize that safety is their first priority.

Capsizes:

Some capsizes are to be expected as a normal occurrence and competitors are expected to recover by themselves. Have safety boats stand by and assist only if crews can not right the boats & resume racing within a reasonable & safe time. Safety boats should take the crew aboard if they see signs of hypothermia or injury. (This may require some convincing.) The RC should call off racing when capsizes become more than two per race.

Fleets:

Officials & official boats:

These regattas are “boat intensive". You’ll need an RC platform and at least one safety boat (more is better). A separate chase/mark boat is recommended; it can also serve, if needed, as another safety boat.

Spectator boats (driven by knowledgeable & respectful operators) are a boon to non-sailing parents & siblings. Spectator boats should not interfere with or coach racers. Coach boats are addressed below. Spectator boats are not ideal for rescues.

Officials:

We recommend US SAILING certified race officers and judges. While the event should be informal, it should follow the rules.

Races:

Starts:

Sailing instructions should specify use of the sound-signal system of Appendix S rather than the Rule 26 system. With Appendix S, the Prep signal (when boats are “racing") is at 2 minutes. Advantages of Appendix S over Rule 26:

Start pram fleet last. Don’t attempt “rolling starts". Allow one minute (or more) between the starting signal for one fleet & the warning signal for the next. You’ll find some of your competitors still on the line for the next sequence.

Race Length & number:

Courses:

Racing Area:

Try to have the racing area as close to launching area as possible, but away from obstructions and heavy traffic. Being close to the launch area reduces sailing time & permits more races. Obstructions to be concerned about are for safety boats as racers. (Racers may sail into shallow waters where power boats can’t go.)

Flag Signals:

You’ll need AP (postponement), X (individual recall) & 1st Substitute (gen. recall) for starts; . You may need N for abandonment. Try to avoid needing C (change course), S (shorten course) or M (mark replacement).

Scoring:

Scoring should be completed within 30 minutes after racing. The timetable should be:

Portsmouth Comments:

“Double-handed: “Your DP-Ns will likely range from a low of 86 (Fireball, 470) to a high of 98 (FJ, 420), a percentage difference of 14%, 1½ minutes in a 10-minute race.. If your fleet consists primarily of 420s & FJs, the handicaps are so close as to have no effect in a short race.

“Single-handed“: Your DP-Ns will likely range from a low of 91 (Laser) to a high of 108 (Butterfly), a percentage difference of 19%. The Laser is likely to be sailed by the most-skilled sailor. Split the fleet if feasible.

“Prams“: May range from low of 120 (US Sabot) to 140 (Vanguard pram). Try to encourage use of the Vanguard boat or place faster prams into single-handed fleet.

Selected Portsmouth handicaps:

Coaching:

Coaching during the event is a double-edged sword; some young sailors will need coaching to merely complete the course. But coaching which affects the competition for top places is unsportsmanlike. Do not let it get out of hand.

Allow coaching during racing, with restrictions. Because races provide “teachable moments", coaching can help youngsters make dramatic progress in skills. Allow coach boats in the racing area only if the coaching is not biased to particular competitors. Safety should take precedence over coaching, especially during capsizes.

The SIs should change rule 41 (outside help) to allow coaching as specifically approved by the RC in advance and to provide a scoring penalty for each violation. (A protest will be required for enforcement.) SIs should give the race committee authority to authorize some, but not all, coach boats before racing & to order any off the racing area for abuses.

Permitted coaching should be based on helping those in mid-fleet or worse positions. Parents & other family members should not coach their children. Professional coaches should coach clients only minimally and should emphasize coaching non-clients.

Coaches can be expected to know & insist on the rules more than the competitors. Prepare & distribute a coaching rules handout (similar to the one below) specifying permitted & forbidden coaching and include it in the sailing instructions by reference.

Coaching Rules for SAIL Junior Regattas

This document sets out the rules for coaching competitors before, between and during races. It is incorporated as a part of the sailing instructions for the ____ Regatta.